Decentralized finance — DEXs, lending, yield strategies, on-chain derivatives, and tokenized real-world assets.
Decentralized finance is the corner of crypto where markets, credit, and settlement live on open infrastructure rather than inside a single institution. Zipp's DeFi desk tracks the protocols that let users swap, lend, borrow, hedge, and earn yield without handing custody to a bank, and the bridges forming between those protocols and traditional finance. In practice that means decentralized exchanges, money markets, structured yield, on-chain derivatives, and the fast-moving world of tokenized real-world assets.
The beat matters because the line between DeFi and Wall Street is dissolving in real time. Tokenized Treasuries and equities from DTCC, BlackRock, JPMorgan, and ICE now share rail space with DEXs and lending platforms, while regulators from the CFTC to UK taskforces sketch the rules that will decide who can compete. Our editors follow liquidity shifts across DEXs, lending rates and collateral trends, perp DEX design, stablecoin mechanics, and every credible institutional tokenization pilot that touches on-chain markets.
Day to day, Zipp monitors the protocols and venues that move capital — Aave, the major DEX aggregators, perpetuals platforms such as Hyperliquid-style venues, stablecoin issuers like USDC and Ethena's USDe, and the chains (Ethereum, Solana, Hyperliquid) where DeFi volume concentrates. Tokenization coverage spans custody, settlement, and the legal wrappers that make a Microsoft share or a Treasury bill usable inside a smart contract. Each piece is written for readers who want signal, not slogans, on where programmable finance is heading next.
The upside surprise and 3.1% wage growth strengthen the case for a December hike, while CPI, PPI and equity stability remain key inputs.
As of 15:00 UTC on 06 Nov, CoinMarketCap's top 100 shows a split rotation: Arbitrum and Solana-linked tokens gained…
The objections put issuer support in focus for a proposed venue offering tokenized stock exposure.
Sports and crypto contracts drove substantial trading, while political volume rose ahead of the November 3 US midterms.
The preliminary order follows a Ninth Circuit ruling on the reach of federal commodities law and adds to legal pressure on the prediction-market platform.
A capped XRPL sample shows how advertised offers can overstate liquidity, while modeled sale proceeds vary sharply by route and issuer.
The seller previously received 20.32 million UNI from the Uniswap UNI Timelock wallet more than a year ago.
Bitcoin accounted for $1.03M of the stated gains, with larger sums attributed to SOXLUSD1 and SNDKUSD1 trades.
The framework taxes the full annual gain once it exceeds €500 and leaves questions over whether crypto-to-crypto swaps are covered.
A sell-off in AI and technology stocks hit crypto markets, while the Fear & Greed Index registered 28, indicating fear.
The longtime crypto critic could gain broader financial oversight and subpoena powers, with prediction markets and consumer protection among her possible priorities.
A pending application could give US clients access to permissioned perpetual futures markets, subject to regulatory approval.
The filing marks a step toward offering US customers access to perpetual futures, a major crypto derivatives product.
The HYPE treasury firm reported $620.6 million in quarterly net income, driven primarily by unrealized gains on its holdings.
The application could open a regulated route to U.S. customer accounts for HIP-3 markets, though approval is not assured.
Deribit contracts settle 5.5 hours before US employment data, while longer-dated puts carry a higher quoted premium.
A technology-stock rout reversed Wednesday's crypto rally, while analysts warned that macroeconomic and legislative uncertainty remained unresolved.
The launch brings an equity index fund from Europe's largest asset manager onto a public blockchain.
Variational rose to second place behind Hyperliquid as Bitcoin fell following a reported $6.3 billion Binance hack.
The shift points to a lower perceived chance of tighter US monetary policy at the Federal Reserve's upcoming meeting.
DeFi (decentralized finance) refers to financial applications built on public blockchains, where smart contracts replace intermediaries like banks and brokerages. Users keep custody of their assets, transactions settle on-chain, and protocols are typically open-source and governed by token holders rather than a central operator.
Tokenized RWAs are traditional instruments such as Treasuries, money market shares, or equities represented as blockchain tokens that can move 24/7 inside smart contracts. They matter because they let on-chain collateral, lending, and trading use the same instruments that already anchor global finance, blending TradFi liquidity with DeFi composability.
Spot DEXs match token swaps at live market prices, while perpetual DEXs offer derivative contracts with no expiry, funded through a funding-rate mechanism that keeps the contract tethered to the underlying price. They let traders take leveraged long or short exposure without holding the underlying asset, which is why regulators are now debating how to oversee them.
Check whether the code is audited and open-source, study the mechanism design and who controls the keys or upgrades, look at on-chain liquidity and historical TVL, and understand the oracle dependencies and liquidation paths. Yield that looks unusually high almost always reflects hidden risk in collateral, leverage, or token emissions.
CoinDesk
Crypto News
Crypto Rank News
TheBlock
CryptoSlate
Lookonchain
WuBlockchain
WatcherGuru